Electric Buses Launched in Gothenburg, Sweden

Images courtesy of Volvo.

Sweden prides itself on being a very modern and environmentally conscious country. The land of Vikings made history again today when the city of Gothenburg launched the public transport of the future, their first route for electric buses only. The buses are silent and emission-free and run on electricity from wind power and hydropower. The bus route is among the most modern in the world. Among other things, passengers can recharge their phones onboard and enter and exit the bus from indoors.

Image courtesy of Volvo.

Buses powered completely by renewable energy will now be part of Gothenburg’s public transport system. Bus route 55 has three completely electrically driven buses and seven electric hybrid buses, all of them from made by that iconic Swedish company, Volvo (bet you thought I was going to say IKEA). The electric buses on the route, which runs from Chalmers Johanneberg to Chalmers Lindholmen, through the center of Gothenburg, are equipped with onboard wi-fi and phone charging facilities. If more North American cities adopted modern buses like this, public transportation would become much more popular.

Image courtesy of Volvo.

The buses run on batteries that are quickly recharged with electricity from clean energy at the terminal stops. The Chalmers Lindholmen stop even has an indoor terminal, which is made possible by the fact that the buses are silent and emission-free. This will certainly come in handy since Sweden’s northern latitude makes for long, cold winters and very short summers.

About Tracey SmithTracey is an accountant and entrepreneur with a passion for nature. This passion is what spurred her interest in renewable energy, and the rest is history as they say. Tracey is a principal in Energy Think Group, the publisher of Solar Thermal Magazine and Tek-Think. She is also the principal at Women's Financial Help Desk. She spends her free time in the outdoors with her horses and dogs. She loves to travel.